The Spirit in the Old Testament

While the Holy Spirit has always sustained all life (Job 27:3, Job 33:4), He has worked differently in the lives of individual men and women in different ages.

The Holy Spirit is directly mentioned in Scripture only five times in the period before Abraham, but His ministry of revealing God to men is evident in the amount of divine truth understood by men like Job and Noah.

In the time between Abraham and Christ—the Age of Israel—the Holy Spirit came upon certain men, usually for the purpose of revealing truth, or preparing or empowering for service (Gen 41:38; Exo 28:3, Exo 31:3, Exo 35:31; Num 11:18–25, Num 27:18; Jdg 3:10, Jdg 6:34, Jdg 11:29, Jdg 13:25, Jdg 14:6, Jdg 15:14; 1Sa 10:9–10, 1Sa 16:13; Dan 4:8, Dan 5:11–14, Dan 6:3; Zec 4:3, Zec 4:12–14). Believers could obtain the Holy Spirit by asking (2Ki 2:9–10; Luk 11:13), but they could also have Him taken from them (Psa 51:11).